It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it.This is only true if you pursue it unwisely.Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed.So it is with happiness.If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hang-over.Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days.His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian, and most people would need something more vigorous.For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life.But I think that whatever personal rule of life you may choose it should not, except in rare and heroic cases, be incompatible with happiness.
道德家们常说：幸福靠追求是得不到的。只有用不明智的方式去追求才是这样。蒙特卡洛城的赌徒们追求金钱，但多数人却把钱输掉了，而另外一些追求金钱的办法却常常成功。追求幸福也是一样。如果你通过畅饮来追求幸福，那你就忘记了酒醉后的不适。埃毕丘鲁斯追求幸福的办法是只和志趣相投的人一起生活，只吃不涂黄油的面包，节日才加一点奶酪。他的办法对他来说是成功的，但他是个体弱多病的人，而多数人需要的是精力充沛。就多数人来说，除非你有别的补充办法，这样追求快乐就过于抽象和脱离实际，不宜作为个人的生活准则。不过，我觉得无论你选择什么样的生活准则，除了那些罕见的和英雄人物的例子外，都应该是和幸福相容的。
